The present embodiments relate to a spine coil array.
Magnetic resonance tomography devices (MRTs) for examination of objects or patients by magnetic resonance tomography are known, for example, from DE 10314215B4.
Modern magnetic resonance systems (MRT, MR) operate with coil elements for transmitting high-frequency pulses for nuclear resonance excitation and/or for receiving induced magnetic resonance signals. A magnetic resonance system may include a permanent magnet or (more frequently) a superconducting coil to generate a basic magnetic field (B0) homogeneously in an examination area, a large whole body coil (e.g., a body coil (BC)) installed at a fixed position in the MR device and a number of small local coils (e.g., surface coils or LC). To read out information from which images of a patient may be generated, selected areas of the object or the patient to be examined are read out with gradient coils for three axes (e.g., X, Y approximately radial to the patient, and Z in the longitudinal direction of the patient). The local encoding in magnetic resonance tomography may be realized with the aid of a gradient coil system with three independently controllable, magnetically orthogonal gradient field coil systems. By overlaying the three freely-scalable fields (e.g., in three directions X, Y, Z), the orientation of the plane to be encoded (e.g., gradient field) may be freely selected.
In MR tomography, images with a high signal-to-noise ratio may be recorded with loops. In this process, the excited cores in the coil induce a voltage that is then amplified with a low-noise amplifier (LNA) and forwarded via a cable connection to the receive electronics. To improve the signal-to-noise ratio for high-resolution images as well, high-field systems are used. The basic field strengths of high-field systems may be 3 Tesla or higher. Since a number of coil elements (loops), which are operable to be connected to the MR receive system, are used as receivers, a switching matrix (e.g., an RCCS) is fitted between receive antennas and receivers. This routes the active receive channels to the existing receivers. This makes it possible to connect more loops than there are receivers available, since to cover a body, the coils that are located in the Field of View (FoV) or in the homogeneity volume of the magnet are read out.
The individual antenna elements are also referred to as loops below.
An antenna that may include one or more (array coil) loops is referred to as a coil or spine coil array.
A coil may include, for example, loops, a preamplifier, further electronics and cabling, a housing and a cable with a plug, through which the coil is connected to the system. The system may be an MRT system, for example.
A patient lies in the MRT system on a spinal column array (e.g., a spine coil or spine coil array) built into or resting on a patient bed. This may be used both for producing images of the spinal column and also for imaging other areas of the anatomy covered by this array. For measurements in the abdomen (e.g. liver, heart), an anterior coil may be used, and the spine coil is used as the posterior coil. To provide images of just the spinal column, no additional anterior coil is used. Spine coil arrays known in the prior art cover the patient in the lateral direction (e.g., x direction in an MRT) in this configuration with up to 4 elements.
For the examination of specific organs in the abdomen, the antenna arrangements of spine coil arrays do not have any particular characteristics of specializations. Thus, dedicated cardiac array coils (or translated heart coil arrays) may be used to provide images of the heart (e.g., cardiac imaging) in order to enable better acceleration factors to be achieved. For cardiac imaging, the acceleration and the concomitant reduction in the measurement time is of importance, since the measurement times are still relatively long because of the movement of the heart and the breathing.
Invasive endorectal coils may be used for examining the prostate. It would be advantageous to use non-invasive coils that achieve similar image quality. Also, it would be advantageous to work with far smaller element sizes than in spine or body matrix coils of the prior art.
In accordance with the prior art, cardiac (heart) examinations may be performed using dedicated cardiac arrays (or heart coil arrays). A prostate may be examined by invasive endorectal coils. This is uncomfortable from the patient's point of view, the coil is placed by a doctor, and a coil cover is discarded for hygiene reasons after the examination.